Frank Maston’s musical inspiration follows the same magical, sunny and harmonious path that some of the past fifty years’ greatest pop composers (Brian Wilson, Lee Hazlewood, Van Dyke Parks) took. In imagining beautiful melodies that intertwine over emotional musical atmospheres and lyrical situations, he creates more that just a song but a shining reflection of his soul’s inner feelings. His latest and first album proper, Shadows, was released last year by Trouble In Mind on the same day as label-mate Jacco Gardner’s Cabinet of Curiosities, and although both artists’ music can be considered similar in terms of sensitivity and attention to detail, little did Bill and Lisa Roe know that the two would become best of friends and eventually play around the world together in Jacco‘s band.

Frank’s veins are genetically filled with sunshine: a Los Angeles native of Italian descent from both parents – this was his first time in Italy when we met at Jacco Gardner’s gig in Chiavari and I could see the excitement of finally being somewhere he’d always heard about in his eyes and in his uncontainable smile. As you’ve read on Tuesday’s post, we hung out by the seaside and then went to Milan to shoot a couple of songs the day after, which is where I left you off in the previous post.

After we shot Outside Forever with Jacco, we moved to another area of the park and sat in front of a rose bush where Frank played Messages while the rest of the band accompanied him with percussion and vocal harmonies.  Messages is a haunting tale of a lover with a cold heart, who led  you to believe you would journey to a wonderful place beyond space and time together, but as their hidden agenda comes out of the shadows, like a falling leaf getting closer the ground, you’re brought back down to reality. The bubble bursts and the veil in front of your eyes is lifted to see who it really is you’re looking at, and realise that sometimes there’s not much else to do other than accept their refusal, move onwards and frowards.

After we recorded the session, we walked back to the venue where over some pasta and pizza we geeked out about music some more, before they would walk back onstage and play another dreamy set under a couple of sky-embracing maple trees, transporting the enthusiastic audience to a magical land behind the moon of the mid-summer’s night.

Check out the video for Messages below and go get Shadows HERE.